Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive‘s news roundup that gathers the biggest automotive headlines from around the globe.
The Downshift summarizes stories into a couple of sentences and provides a link for those seeking more information. Here’s your bulletin for Wednesday, July 8, 2026.
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🪽 Aston Martin has a plan to keep its V12s in production for as long as possible, though it comes with a caveat. “We’ve done some work to make the V12 compliant to European and US [regulations],” Adrian Hallmark, CEO of the brand, recently said in an interview. “If we keep our V12 sales under 1,000 per year, then we’re exempt from legislation until 2035 at least.” That puts a pretty hard cap on the company’s output, though it’s not like volume was really ever Aston’s bag. [Auto Express]
📉 Mercedes-Benz’s Q2 2026 results are in, and they’re down 8% on the year prior. The automaker attributed the slide to stiff competition in China. (Where else?) [Reuters]
📹 Honda is recalling over 325,000 Odyssey minivans, model years 2018-2020, for faulty rearview cameras that could allow water to seep in and damage the system. [Reuters]
💵 If you’re interested in a 2026 Lucid Air or Gravity, the EV maker is offering some sizable discounts this month, including $10,000 in credit for those paying in cash, an extra $3,000 for trade-ins, and another $3,000 for returning Lucid customers. [InsideEVs]
👔 BYD reportedly wanted to purchase a stake in Renault twice over the last few years but was shot down on both occasions, according to a report from a French paper. [Automotive News]
🐭 You know the Fiat Topolino, which is now available in North America? Apparently, the company is considering a hot Abarth version. I hope it has more than ropes for doors. [Autocar]
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